Stock-moistener for plate-printing presses.



S. G. PUGH.

STOCK MOISTENER FOR PLATE PRINTING PBESSES. APPLICATION FILED-DBO. 11,1912.

1,096,055. Patent d May12,1914.

Fig.1. 53 05216 0 0 WITNESSES: INVENTOR ellviow ie? S. G. PUGH.

STOCK MOISTENER FOR PLATE PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.11, 1912.

1,096,055, Patented May12,191

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

IN VE/V TOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SOLON G. PUG-H, OF BELLEVILLE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'IO MODERN DIE A NDPLATE PRESS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BELLEVILL-E, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

STOCK-MOISTENER FOR PLATE-PRINTING PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent-ed May 12, 1914.

Application filed December 11, 1912. Serial No. 736,084.

To all '10]: 0111 it may concern Be it known that I, SOLON G. Pocn, acitizen of the United States of America, residiug'at Belleville, St.Clair county, Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulStock-Moistener for Plate-Printing Presses, of which the following issuch a full, clear, and exact description as will enable any one skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to a stock moistener for plate printing presses andhas for its ob ject the production of a device which will moisten oneside only of the stock during its travel to the cylinder of the press.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one form of machine made'in accordance with my invention, together with a portion of the pressto which the same is applied, Figure 1 is a top plan view, Fig. 2 is aside elevation, Fig.3 is an enlarged sectional view, Fig. 4 is an endelevation, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of some of the gearing.

Like marks of reference refer to similar parts in the several views ofthe drawings.

10 represents the roll of a plate printing press, 11 the stationaryframe, and 12 the sliding bed plate. These parts may be of any suitableform such, for instance, as is shown in my prior application, SerialNumber 668,748, filed December 30, 1911.

Secured to the main frame 11 of the press are side frames 15 and 16which carry my moistening device. Mounted in the upper end of the frame15 is a short shaft 17 having mounted on one end a spur wheel 18 and 011the other a sprocket wheel 19. This sprocket wheel 19 is connected bymeans of a chain 20 to a sprocket wheel 21 carried on the roll 10 of thepress. Pivotally mounted on one of the frames 15 and 16 by means of abolt 22 is a bar 23 provided with a tongue 24 which projects into acorresponding groove 25 in one of the side frames 26 of the moisteningdevice. The bars 23 are held at the proper angle by means of bolts 27passing through slots 28 in the frames 15 and 16. Mounted in the sideframes 26 are a pair of rolls 30 and 31, the lower of which acts as amoistening roller for applying the moisture to the stock as will behereinaftenmore fully described. The upper roller 31 is mounted 111blocks 32 sliding in a guide-way 33 in the frames 26. The rolls are heldapart by means of a coil spring 34 and the distance between the tworolls is adjusted by means of an adjusting screw, Arranged below theroll 30 so that a portion of the roll projects into it is a pan 36 forcontaining the liquid for moist-ening the stock. This pan 36 issupported on ledge 37 carried by the side frames 26, as best shown inFig. 4. Adjacent to the roll 30 is a concave 38 which contains absorbentmaterial 39. The object of this absorbent material is twofold, first itdraws up liquid by capillary attraction and supplies it to the upperpart of roll 30 so that this part of the roll will be moist, thusperforming its proper function of moistening the stock when the devicehas been out of operation for a short time, and the other object of theabsorbent material is to remove the surplus moisture from the roll 30and thus prevent over-moistening of the stock. The concave 38 can beadjusted toward or away from the roll 30 by means of adjusting screws 40passing through a cross strip 41 connecting the two side frames 26.

In order to drive the rolls 30 and 31, they are provided at one end withspur wheels 42 and 43 respectively, as best shown in Fig. 5. The lowerof these spur wheels 42 engages with a spur wheel 18 on the shaft 17herein before referred to.

44 is a table upon which the stock is placed preparatory to feeding itbetween rolls 30 and 31. This table 44 is provided with a guide 45 inthe usual manner. After passing the stock between the rolls 30 and 31,it is necessary to feed it to the roll 10 on the printing press. Inorder to accomplish this, I mount in the side frames 26 a number ofsmall rollers 46 provided with grooves around which pass tapes 47. Thesetapes 47, in place of running parallel with the edge of the stock, arepreferably slightly inclined, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to force thestock against a guide 48 which is adjustably secured to cross pieces 49by screws 50. By thus forcing the stock against the guide 48, thealinement of the stock is assured and its proper registry with theprinting press. The roller 46 nearest to the rolls 30 and 31, isprovided at one end with a spur wheel 52 which in turn engages with thespur wheel 53 on the end of the roller 31. These spur wheels 52 and 53are of such relative size as to drive the roller 46 at the sameperipheral speed as't-he-roll 31 so that the stock may be fed along bythe tapes 47 at the same rate that it is fed between the rolls 30 and31.

The operation of my device will be evident.

The stock is simply placed upon the table 44 and fed between-the rolls30 and 31, the lower roll 30 will supply moisture from the pan 36 to thelower face of the stock so as to prepare it for properly receiving theimpressioxi from the plate in the press. The stock, after leaving therolls 30 and 31, will be fed forward on the tapes 47 and delivered tothe roll 10 of the printing press. It is if necessary to vary the heightto the roll 10 engagement with the spur wheel ofthe printing press whendifferent thicknesse of plates are used. In order that the stock'may beproperly fed tothe roll in its different positions, the main frame 26 ofthe moistening device is pivotally mounted on the bolts 22- as has beenshown hereinbefore. In order to varythe delivery point to correspondwith the variations in height of the roll 10. bolts 27 are loosened soas to allow the said frame to swing on its pivot. After the properposition is reached, the bolts 27 are again tightened. It will be seenthat as the spur wheel 42 is near the pivot point of the frame and itsmovement is slight, its 18 will not be disturbed by this movement. Whenit is desired to remove the moistening device from the press in, orderto give ad'cess to the moving bed plate 12,. the entire device can beslid along the guide bars 23, thus drawing the wheel 42 away from thewheel 18. 7

Havin fully described my invention, what I c aim as new and desire tosecure by Letters-Patent of the United States is:

1. In a stock moistener for printing presses, the combination with apress roll, of feeding means for delivering a sheet of stock to saidroll, a roller for applying moisture to one side of the sheet, a concaveof absorbent material for applying moisture to said roll, and means foradjusting said concave toward and away from said roll.

2. In a stock moistener forv printing presses, the combination with apress roll, of a frame carrying a feeding mechanism for deliveringsheets to said roll, a stock moistening device also carried by, saidframe and geared to said feeding mechanism, and a second frame carriedby the press body and having a sliding engagement With said first namedframe.

3. In a stock .moistener for. printing presses, the combination with apress roll, of a frame carrying a stock moistening device, a secondframe carried by the press body, a pair of bars carried by said secondframe and having a sliding engagement with said first namedframe, andgearing carried by said second frame for driving said stock moisteningdevice.

4. In a stock moistener for printing presses, the combination with apress roll, of a frame carrying a stock moistening device, a secondframe carried by the press body, and a pair of pivotally mounted barscarried by said second frame and having a sliding engagement with saidfirst named frame.

5. In a stock moistener for printing presses, the combination with apress roll, of a frame carrying feeding mechanism for delivering sheetsto the said roll, a stock moistening device also carried by said frame,

driving mechanism for said feeding and moistening device, a second framecarried by the press body, and a gear wheel carried by said second frameand driven from the press roll, said gearing on said first frame beingadapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the gear wheel ofsaid second frame.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and afiixed my seal inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

S. G. PUGH. [L.s.] Witnesses W. A. ALEXANDER, G. M. SHORE.

